Coastside Farmers’ Market field notes, Nov 6

Hey Marketeers!

Ever take a cooking pumpkin (like an apple blossom type) cube it up, douse it with tangerine juice, zap it with some fresh grated ginger and a light sprinkling of cinnamon,  then toss it in a nice hot oven with a couple of Fuyu persimmons cut into halves and laid face down in the pan,  and then roast it all until the edges got just a little brown, and it perfumed your entire house?
No? Well, you might want to give that a rip, because when you do - and then run everything through the mill once things cool down -  not only do you get a metaphor for how life has felt lately, but the resulting spicy, tangy pulp is just plain a gorgeous color, and it makes a surprising and intriguing base for all kinds of yummy pumpkiny goodness , with a mysterious kick that will sure have the pie purists all atwitter.

This stuff makes a pumpkin pie worth the caloric cost of the crust, if you ask me. It also makes a most tasty muffin ingredient, which when topped with a lovely jewel of pomegranate jelly is about enough to make my Auntie Bits miss the early service of a Sunday.

Take that same stuff and add a soupcon of fine white pepper and some minced, sauteed shallots, and you have a memorable and envy inspiring ravioli filling, people. Toss them in a little bit of almond oil that you have crisped seom sage in, then top them with a few pomegranate arils, and you have quite an Autumn Poem-on-a-Plate.

Actually, I cannot be bothered with making ravioli very often.  My fundamental ( pick one) laziness, lack of time management skills, confused ethnic heritage - prevents me from enjoying that task very often, but not too long ago I made a layered dish of fresh pasta, this pumpkin/oniony loveliness, dollops of goats cheese ( a perfect foil for the sweetness of the squash) and topped with almonds toasted with sage.  Dang.  It was really, really good, and went down quite smoothly with a pile of Little Gem lettuces, a chunk of sourdough and a pretty little tumbler of Viognier . I am pretty sure I missed church that day too. But I did say my prayers, and they were certainly answered.

So, this week we welcome back the fine folks from Cafe de mi Abuelo, who have been out for a bit, and it looks like we will have the first batch of truly local honey from a new vendor, and all of the above-mentioned ingredients in case you want to upset your own belief systems about pumpkin pie recipes.

IN answer to Burning Question Number 675: Left-Coast Grass Fed will be back on November 20th!

AS for Burning Question Number 731: The Market is open - RAIN OR SHINE - every week from here through and including December 18, 2010.

And we hope to see you there, plucking your persimmon in public.

Thanks!

Erin Tormey
Founder, Manager
Coastside Farmers’ Markets
May - December

Half Moon Bay @ Shoreline Station•Saturdays - 9 to 1
•
Pacifica @ Rockaway Beach•Wednesdays - 2:30 - 6:30